Live Avatar Online Escape Rooms

Live Avatar Escape Games

One of the many effects of Covid-19 has been to turn many businesses on their heads. Without the possibility of customers being able to maintain social distancing, industries which rely on having people within close proximity of each other have had to re-think their whole business strategy. One of those industries most affected has been the escape room game genre, with it now being impossible to have players within a closed space together. In order to roll with the punches, escape room game companies like ourselves have devised a new game format, which keeps all the elements of the original, whilst at the same time adding extras that serve to improve and enhance the whole gaming experience. And it's all thanks to avatars.

In regular video games, the avatar is an image or a character who represents the player. But in the case of escape rooms, this is the game master. The principle is simple: within a real escape room, there's a games master who acts as the eyes and ears of the players. Wearing a microphone and headphones, he takes directions from the players who are watching via a conference app. This allows everyone to be connected from anywhere in the world. You direct the game master to find and examine clues and puzzles, which he shows clearly on camera. Live avatar online escape room games have allowed thousands to continue playing their favorite escape games without physical contact.

For a generation bought up playing console video games, utilizing the game master's camera and microphone will remind you of playing first-person-shooter games. Essentially, by watching from the game master's viewpoint, you will become the protagonist, as you see and hear exactly as he does. We make use of online video conferencing, along with a live, on-site, in-room remote avatar fitted with a front-mounted camera that is capable of sending close-up, real-time images of the various items, puzzles, and clues found within the room. Everything is streamed in High Definition to players who can be social distancing at home anywhere on the planet.

All of our game masters play a pivotal role within the narrative of each game. This is another means of ensuring the gameplay remains fully immersive, with no extraneous or superfluous distractions to break the player's concentration. In many of the games, his part is that of the main protagonist, and the role of the player is to assist in the discovery, retrieval, and diagnosis/solving of the various clues hidden within each escape room. In this way, he is able to guide the players through the game with subtle hints and pointers, always given in a discreet manner, while at the same time, keeping everyone aware of the remaining time, even though this will be displayed on every player's game interface.

Another important role of the remote in-room avatar is that of keeping the gameplay running smoothly. In many ways, he will act as a quiet leader, but leading from behind, whilst urging the players forwards by reminding them of the aim and purpose of the game, along with the negative aspects of failure, ie you will get eaten by a zombie or the ticking bomb will explode. It's a skillful and fine balancing act, in that there's a huge difference between telling the players where to look or what to do, and letting them discover things for themselves. In the former case, the players would be left feeling frustrated and empty at having the clues and puzzled solved by a third party. And in the latter case, subtly guiding without intruding on the discovery process, sometimes with just a glance or a single word, leads to feelings of satisfaction and pride among the players, when they finally complete the course.